Lasting Young Love
by Sho-A0YCupid
Summary: Matthew's POV. Matthew loves Gilbert since he was a child and continues on into his young adult life, but does Gilbert feels the same? And is the five year difference matter? PruCan/GilbertxMatthew. First fic of this couple. Some language but not much.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This is Sho-A0YCupid, Cupid for short or Shoai whichever is fine. This is **my first** PruCan fic and this is all in Matthew's POV. Now! This actually started out as one, long one-shot, but I divided it to three parts. I've read other PruCan fics to get the idea of how these two act because they don't appear a lot on the anime, or at least the anime shows Canada a few times more than Prussia -

"Which isn't awesome!"

... Okay... I should've expected that, but anyway I heard about how this pairing came to be and I wanted to know where I could find the April Fool's blog that most kept mentioning, so far I couldn't find it. Well, I thought the pairing is down right adorable, in the awesome sense of course.

"Fail!"

Did not expect that... Oh well! I hope you enjoy reading this and give me some feedback of what you thought about it. Remember, this is my first PruCan fic so I may have messed up on some parts as far as personality goes and all that. So, without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong><em>Lasting Young Love<em>**

/

The first time I met him, I just turned ten on July first. It should've been a celebration, no matter how small, but there wasn't any. My mother barely knows I exist ever since Father left with my older brother who was born a year and three days ahead of me. Since then Mother would have her depression fits which turned to tantrums.

We lived in an apartment at that time, so we get complaints all the time from our neighbors. But no one knows that I'm there, so child services were never called up.

But I didn't know about my rights at that age so I just went along with it, going to school, and staying under one of those hollow dome structures in the playground in the park when mother gets into her fits again.

One day though, I went to my room to work on some homework when mother suddenly had a fit and entered my room and started to yell at me, shaking me while she was doing that. I was scared and ran out of there as fast as I can. I was good with running first off, and this isn't the first time she was like this. I can out run her easy.

But at school, I wasn't always so lucky. I've always been a target to bullying, and I would usually come home with a bruise or two from the rough 'play' that they do.

The same day that Mother was at her fit is when I earned a kick to the stomach when they took my only friend, a stuff white bear. I got him back though, and the day wore on at school to home, and now in the park in the only place I call my safe place.

The inside of the dome was dark and there were some spider webs that can be seen above, which scared a lot of kids who poked their head in, but to me it was the only place I felt safe from the screams and the beatings. Outside wasn't much, which seemed like a perfect place because no one wants anything to do with something as plain as something like this.

But then that day was the day I met him.

XXXXXXX

I was talking to my bear when I heard some older kids laughing. I didn't pay any mind to it, because I usually heard kids laugh outside my safe haven, but this time someone slid in.

Yes, slid as in the last stretch of the home run base slid.

He leaned up against the wall, panting as if running from someone, but he was smiling, or at least from what I could tell by the lack of light in here, which meant that he was playing some kind of game with someone outside. But this wasn't strange, there were times someone was brave enough to come in here and they wouldn't notice me.

But he was different. He was older, that was apparent, but he noticed I was there.

Now, usually the bigger kids never, ever, bother with little kids like me, because they like to do things that little kids don't get. I understood that difference at that age, but he grinned and placed his finger to his shadowed over lips, signaling me to be quiet. I didn't know what to make of this, but I didn't want to be involved with a game that the bigger kids were playing.

We were there for what seemed like a few minutes before someone's head poked in and looked around. It was another big kid with short, slightly curly brown hair and tan skin. He looked left and right before making a confused sound as he crawled out.

"I can't find him Francis!" The boy called out.

I looked to see that the other guy was holding his laughter in, which made me want to laugh as well, but I covered mine as well, which he seemed to noticed and was having a harder time keeping it in because it was so funny.

"Are you sure, Toni? He couldn't have gone far."

"I'm sure, I even checked that creepy cave thing just a moment ago."

He and I looked at each other, our hands covering our mouths to keep ourselves from laughing straight out to let them figure out we're here.

"Well! If he's not here, where else could he be hiding? Damn that Gilbert…"

'Gilbert?' I thought as I looked at the other and pointed to him, and I saw the shadow of his head nodded, the shadow of his lips grined and seemed proud and stuck up about it. It was a nice name though, I never heard of a Gilbert in any of my classes.

But then he sneezed, letting the other two know where he is.

"Gilbert?"

I saw a different big kid poke his head in. This one has bright blonde hair and fair skin.

"There you are, mon ami!" He said in a thick accent that I knew is French.

Gilbert finally laughed that he held his sides. "It took you two long enough!" He said as he fell to his side and laughed, which sounded louder because we're inside the dome.

"Don't blame us! It's dark in here and-" He looked up to see the spider webs and let out a screech that was fit for an easily scared woman as he scrambled out, which only caused Gilbert to laugh even harder.

"Oh fuck…" He said as he took a few deep breaths. "That was awesome! I'm just sorry I didn't have my camera!" He looked my way, and I still had my hand over my mouth to keep myself from laughing. "Hey kid, it's okay to make noise now, I'm caught." He chuckled as I buried my face into the bear's fur.

"Who are you talking to, amigo?" Said the other guy, Toni.

"A kid who was hiding here before me. Looks like whoever was playing with him forgot about him."

"Oh the poor dear." Said Francis.

I felt my face burning up as I looked up and saw him extend his hand out to me, which looked pale as snow in the light.

"Come on kid, we don't bite. But we will if you do."

As I mentioned before, big kids usually don't bother with little kids, but I took his hand anyway and let me crawl out first and I got to see the other two at full height. I realized that they weren't just big kids, but the kind that are almost teenagers. I started to hug my bear tightly as Gilbert came out and I saw that he was just as tall as them, as well as his blood red eyes and short, snow white-silver hair.

"Oh! How adorable!" The blonde said as he picked me up and held me close. "You're so cute I could just eat you!"

"Hey, Francis, don't scare the poor kid! People already think you're a pedo."

I didn't know what a pedo was at that time so of course the stupid kid thing to do is repeat the questionable word. "Pedo?"

The three looked at me as Toni started to laugh and patted Gilbert's back.

"Looks like you got some explaining to do!"

"He doesn't need to know that!" Gilbert said with a glare, which was kinda scary with his red eyes.

"Oh you worry too much, mon ami." Said Francis as he looked down at me and smiled. "Hello, I'm Francis, you've already met Gilbert,"

"The Awesome." He said with that smug, prideful grin.

"And I'm Antonio, but you can all me Toni."

"So kid, what are you called?" Gilbert asked with a playful grin and his eyes seemed interested.

"M-Matthew…" I said as I rubbed my cheek against the fur.

"Aww! Mathieu is such an adorable name for a sweet boy."

"Ah! He looks a bit like you, Francis." Antonio said.

I guess we do kinda look alike, with my hair a bit long and wavy like his with only a stubborn curl jutting out from where my hair parts from the center. But unlike the shiny blonde that can rival the sun, my hair is a dull sandy blond.

Gilbert made a sound in his throat as he studied me. "I guess from the hair, but he's definitely a hell lot cuter than you, Franny."

"You know how much I despise that nickname." Francis said with a bored expression before looking at me again. "Oh? My, my, you got such beautiful eyes, Mathieu."

My eyes are unusual. There two colors mixed to one. One is dark blue while the other is violet giving it a different hue.

The other two looked and I could feel my face getting warm as Antonio said something about looking like a tomato while Gilbert ruffled my hair.

"So, Mattie, where you from?" Gilbert asked.

I looked and pointed to the building not far from the park.

"Oh, not far then." He said as he put his hand over his eyes, as if looking somewhere far off. "Your parents not home or something?"

I shook my head. "Momma is in a bad mood…" I said, remembering her shouting at me and started to cry. I didn't mean to, but the next thing I knew my back was being rubbed by Francis and my head as well by Gilbert while Antonio said something in a language I didn't understand, but I think it was Spanish?

"I'm sure she didn't mean to…" Francis said with a cooing sound.

"Do you want to go home, or do you want to hang with us for a little while longer?" Gilbert asked.

Mother should be calm by now, but I was still scared and I felt really safe with these three older kids, though in reality they were fifteen or something like that, but I felt safe, loved even.

"Can I stay with you a little longer?" I asked in a soft voice that I didn't know if they heard me.

Gilbert did, being the closest to me as he told the two that they have an audience now.

I didn't understand what he meant by that when we headed over to a bench with strange cases on it.

Antonio picked up a large case and opened up to reveal a guitar. I've seen it a lot so I'm familiar with it. Francis took out a flute, which is pretty rare to see. And Gilbert took out a violin, which is really rare even on television.

"Okay Mattie, just sit here and listen to the magic." Gilbert said as I was placed down the bench as they tuned their instruments, before Francis started out with a nice sounding tune from the flute, followed by the strumming of Antonio's guitar, complementing each other with the different pitches. Then Gilbert entered with an elongated sound that didn't overpower the other two, but at the same time wrapping them around.

I remember holding my breath for the longest time as they played such beautiful music, and all of them looked so entranced by their instruments, as if they were willingly taken over by the sounds themselves.

I never wanted to be anywhere else when they played. Much like when I was hiding earlier, I felt safe and all the pain of the day faded to nothing and only the music remained. And all too soon it was over with the final, sorrowful note from Gilbert's violin.

"What you think?" Gilbert asked me as I started crying. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

"Why you stop?" I asked as I saw them smile softly as Gilbert messed my hair a little.

"You here tomorrow?" He asked.

I usually am here to get away from Mother when she gets angry, so I nodded as he smiled.

"Good! We'll play you a song tomorrow then!"

I felt really happy to hear that they would play a song for me again. They escorted me to the door and they stayed a few feet away to make sure I got inside okay. It was a good thing Mother was in her calm state now and waved at them and they waved back. I couldn't wait until tomorrow.

XXXXXXX

When tomorrow became today, I was nervous about going out to the park to meet them. At school, I received a black eye from one of the bullies, and now it's as dark as my eyes, if not darker, and my left eye wasn't opening up normally. I thought about not going to meet them, which made me really sad, when I heard Mother in her tantrum fit again, which made me really scared, still thinking back about her screaming at me. I didn't want to be in the building, but I don't want to go to the park to have them see me like this. So I stayed somewhere in-between.

I was at the steps out in-front of the apartment building when Gilbert came up to me.

"Sorry kiddo, you're gonna have to listen to me. Franny and Toni are-" He started to say to me when he noticed the black eye. "Whoa, Mattie, what happened?"

"School…" I said honestly, but vague enough to not let him know I have a bully problem.

"Have you told your teachers or your mom?"

I shook my head.

"You have to let someone know, otherwise it'll just get worse."

"No one hears me…"

"Because you're so quiet. Have you ever screamed or yell before?"

I shook my head again. "It scares me…" He was quiet for awhile before asking if my mother screams at me. I told him that she screams a lot when she has a bad day, and that the other people have to call up the land lord and they argue about it.

He sighed as he scratched his head. "Damn, and I thought I have family problems."

"Your mommy shouts too?"

He looked at me with a small smile. "I don't have a Mom anymore. I have a Dad, but we've never liked each other."

"So you argue a lot with him?"

"Haven't talked to the guy in a year now since I moved here."

"Moved?"

"Yeah. I guess it's hard to tell. I'm from Germany."

"Germany?" I had no idea where that place was.

"Geeze, I thought kids are supposed to learn the world by now." He said with a bit of a joke in his tone. "Hey, you think your mom would mind if I borrow you for a while?"

"You have to ask her if you're going to borrow me." I knew the difference between stealing and borrowing.

He made a chuckling sound that sounded like "kesesese" before picking me up by one arm while carrying his violin case in the other. "Looks like I'm going to steal you instead then. Alright with you?"

I trusted him and he did say it was only for awhile. I nodded and he carried me all the way to another apartment building, where he lived.

"And this is where I live." He said as he opened the door and I saw that the room was very organized, clean, and the furniture looked a bit old to what I'm used to seeing. He set me down on the old looking, but very kept up couch and said he was going to make something for us as he turned on the T.V.

While I waited, I was watching some cartoon show when the door opened again and an older man came in and our eyes met. He seemed regal with his hair tied back to a low pony tail in a black ribbon, wore nice looking clothes, and his posture was very straight and almost in military position.

"Gilbert!"

"Hey Ol' Fritz!" Gilbert said as he came out with a few sandwiches on three plates, as if expecting the man to arrive, and a small bag of ice with a cloth.

"Who is this?" He said, pointing to me.

"This is the cute kid I told you about." He said as he handed me my plate. "Mattie, this is the awesome Frederick William, but you can call him Fritz. He took me in when Dad more or less booted me out of Germany."

"Does his family know he's here?"

"His mom is too damn angry to even know he's here, much less at home."

"So you took him here?"

"Only for a little while. I plan on giving him back when she calms down and shit."

"And the black eye?"

"I got it from school." I said as I took a bite of my sandwich, which was ham and cheese.

Fritz seemed to be understanding as Gilbert gave me the makeshift icepack to put over my blacken eye. "How long is he staying?"

"Only for an hour. I promised him a song after all."

The man smiled as he took his plate. "I'll be in the office if you need me."

"Thanks!" He said as he looked at me. "Isn't he awesome? He makes a better Dad than my real dad." He said as he scarfed down his sandwich. "He's the one who got me started on the violin." He pointed to the case he set down when we came in.

I can tell that he really looks up to the man who brought him in after a huge fight between him and his dad. Turns out that Fritz and his dad were colleagues to the same company. When he was kicked out, Fritz was on his way here, Canada, due to a business move, heard about it and got him a ticket here as well.

"And boy he was strict with me about learning English and French, because practically everyone here knows both. You do know French, right?"

I nodded. "Je ne." I said, making both of us laugh.

"Well! I promised you a song, and a song you shall have!" He said as he got up, got the violin out of its case, tuned it, and started to play.

And just like yesterday, I held my breath at the beauty of the song and how Gilbert seems so entranced by his own instrument that his ruby eyes started to close half way.

I think that was the point I developed a crush on him.

When the song was over, I wanted to cry again, but he took me home like he said he would.

XXXXXXX

The odd friendship lasted for months and I've started to notice a few things about myself the more I hang around Gilbert and the other members of the "Bad Touch Trio", as they liked to be called.

The first thing was that I developed a deep love of hockey. I'm Canadian, but never went to see a hockey game in my life until Fritz got tickets to a game from one of the employees in the company. But he has a business dinner with someone that night, so the tickets fell into Gilbert's hands, which he then asked me to join him. He would've asked Francis or Antonio, but there were only two tickets and I told him I've never seen a game.

So there we were, in one of the stands, rooting for the Canadian home team. It was there I also learned that I can shout and yell just as loud as anyone when the team wasn't fairing so well, which impressed Gilbert.

"I knew you had it in ya!" He called out, slapping my back as if we're old pals.

When it became cold enough to go ice skating at the nearby pond, I learned how to play hockey, especially about hitting the puck just right. When my friends saw what I could do, Gilbert immediately called up Fritz, who was thankfully on a break when called, and asked about anyone coaching a kid's hockey team around, which thankfully there was.

On the first day, the Bad Touch Trio came with me for support and to cheer me on, while the other kids had their mothers and fathers to do that.

I was doing this without Mother knowing, but she's been busy lately and sometimes wouldn't be home until very late, which the trio would sometimes spend a few hours with me in the apartment I shared with Mother.

Anyway, when I learned my first few lessons, I learned something else about me and hockey. I was very competitive and, as Gilbert puts it, a 'killer' on the ice. I also learned that, when I joined hockey in school and showed my 'killer' side, I had less bully problems and saw that they even backed away from me. So I learned that I had gained respect for my hidden strength. But this wasn't clear to me until the trio explained it to me.

"Oh! Mon cher Mathieu, because of your 'killer' side when you play hockey, they know that you're a lot stronger than you look."

"Si, si! They don't want to have any of that when they're also in a hockey team."

"Yeah! You'll have them eating your ice shavings by the time they got their ass beaten by you and your team."

I did gain some friends when I played hockey, but only when the hockey season was around is when I gained all this attention. By spring it's the same all over again, minus the brutal bully beatings. But the trio never got tired of dragging me around with them, but I was thankful to them, especially Gilbert, which I was sure I was in love with him.

It was Gilbert's sixteenth birthday, and I was on my way to his apartment when I was stopped by the bullies at school. They were on the opposing team, and it looks like they're here for revenge for the brutal loss. I thought I was going to get it when I started screaming, which I didn't know why at the time, but it was loud enough for the Bad Touch Trio to come down and taught the bullies a lesson.

"And here's something you shitheads should know." Gilbert said as he made a face that scared me and was glad that I'm not the one facing the torture. "This guy you're picking on is awesome enough to hang with us big kids. So if we see even a hair out of place, we will beat your asses up so bad that even your own mamas won't want to even look at you!" He then shoved the bullies out of the way. "Now scrat! Before I stick my foot up your asses!"

My heart was racing then, not because of adreline, though it was partly the reason due to fear, but I really did start liking Gilbert more then. Francis picked me up while Toni started to act like a mother hen, going around and asking me rapid questions in his native tongue, which I didn't really get.

"Toni! Chill!" Gilbert said as he placed a hand on his shoulder, quieting him. "He's okay. See? We got to him before they can even mess him up." He then looked at me. "You okay kid?"

I nodded. "Thank you…" I said quietly when I looked around to find the damaged box that had his gift in, which is now, without a doubt, broken to a lot of pieces.

Gilbert noticed the box I was looking at and picked it up, only to hear the broken pieces move around. He opened it anyway and there, in a lot of pieces, was the clay statue of a little yellow bird because he mentioned that he liked birds. It was simple, but I made it with him in mind, and it was the best out of everyone's statues in class.

"Oh mon cher…" Francis said, who was still holding me, and rubbed my back. "Was that your gift?"

I started to tear up, not denying that it was, and now it's ruined that glue can't help it. Not like it would matter.

"Hey, Mattie, don't cry man." Gilbert said as he patted my head. "It's awesome that you would bring a gift for the awesome me. But do you know what's even more awesome?"

I sniffed as I shook my head, not knowing what he meant.

"You coming over." He said with his usual grin. "Because you're just that awesome." He then put his free hand on his hip and looking smug. "If it was any kid your age, I wouldn't even bother with them because they're so unawesome."

I giggled, feeling better as we headed to his apartment, where Fritz was waiting and asked what had happened. After Gilbert filled him in, the party started and all of us had a great time, even though some things that they do are strange to me, but I'm the only kid in the teenager party so I didn't think much about it. I even had a sip of beer and wine there, which tasted awful to me and they said it was because my sense of taste isn't mature enough to handle alcohol. Although Francis said that the wine wasn't even that good to drink anyway, and most of the time we drink sodas and water.

I must've fallen asleep sometime during the middle of the party, because I woke up on the couch with a blanket over me. I looked to see that Francis was passed out on the chair, holding onto the now empty bottle of wine like I am with my stuffed bear. Antonio wasn't found anywhere, but I remember that he mentioned he had to go home at a certain time, so I must've missed him. And Gilbert was passed out on the floor, a blanket over him, and snoring. I looked at the time and saw that it was almost five in the morning.

I felt hungry and looked around to find the now cold pizza on the coffee table and took a slice. When I was done with that, I looked over to Gilbert and quietly went up to him. I don't know what was on my mind on the moment, or if I was even thinking at the time, but I bent down and kissed him… on the lips!

I was ten, going to be eleven in the next few months, and I kissed Gilbert, who just turned sixteen!

It was a good thing he was still asleep when I realized my huge dumb moment. It was nice, I'll admit, since this was my first kiss. But then he wasn't awake, so this would be my first half kiss. I went back to the couch and slept the rest of the early morning, hoping it was some dream and that I didn't just ruin my first kiss with the one I have a huge crush on. But when I woke up again three hours later, they were still asleep, and the slice of pizza was still missing from when I consumed it earlier.

XXXXXXX

When my birthday came around, I didn't want my party to be in the apartment, so we had it at the park. It was a lot of fun, and there was also a celebration going on in some other parts of the neighborhood due to Canada Day. It was going great, the best day even, until Mother came.

"Oh! Bonjour!" Francis said happily. "Can we help you?"

"What are you doing with my son?" She said, clearly not happy with what she's seeing. She was dressed nicely, as if she just got back from work.

"Oh! You're Mateo's mother?" Antonio asked, using the Spanish pronunciation of my name. "Then join us to celebrate his birthday." He's clearly forgotten that she's not the happy mother that most mothers should be.

"Matthew! Come here! We're leaving!" She ordered, clearly not happy about this at all.

"Excuse me." It was Fritz as he came up from using the park's restroom that was nearby. "Is there a problem?"

Mother glared at him as she went up to him. "What do you think you're doing to my son?"

He blinked, but he didn't falter as he calmly explained. "Simply throwing him a birthday party, is there a problem with that?"

"The only problem I have is why my son is hanging around hooligans instead of children his own age."

"Now ma'am," He said, his tone changed to something that would hint that he didn't appreciate what she said. "If you were even half the mother you claim to be, you would know that your son has been experiencing bully problems at school, and the fact that he rather spends time with these 'hooligans' as you called them, then be at home where he would be yelled at for no reason other than something to be vented out with, tells me that you failed as a mother in all respects of one. Not only that, but I've heard, not only from your son, but from your tenets as well that you have a tantrum problem and lately been working later and later into the night, not being home until the crack of dawn almost." He then glared at her that she backed away from him. "Now you have the nerve to come here, claiming back your son, when he's clearly enjoying his birthday party with a group of people that are more of a family than you." He then looked angry. "Your tenets even tell me that they didn't know you have a child… Why is that?"

I can tell she didn't have an answer to that, so instead she threatened him to take him to court.

"Ma'am… I am the court." He said. "I'm a lawyer for child services."

Now that I've thought about it, I've never asked what he does for a living. And by the look on my mother's face, it was something that mother was afraid of.

"Now that I've got the pleasure of meeting you, we can go over to what will be discussed. But in the meantime, I have a birthday party to attend to. Excuse me." He said as he brushed past Mother and joined the rest of us like the talk never happened.

XXXXXXX

The months following that day were difficult for me. The good thing about it was that I can stay with Gilbert and Fritz, the bad was that I have to testify everything that I experience with Mother, which didn't help her in the least. But I thought I didn't have to live with her anymore after this, and that thought was pretty good until the services found my father and brother.

I haven't seen my brother since I was three, so it was a bit unnerving when I was waiting for him and my father. But when they brought them in, my brother looked lost and he asked Father who I was. I didn't mind it really, we were very little then, and it has been eight years. After being told that I'm his brother, he grew excited and we spent a lot of time together, figuring out what each liked and talked about what went on the last eight years.

He was surprised to hear what I had to go through, and asked Father why he left me behind. Turns out Father could only support one of us, and I was the quiet one and figured he can handle Alfred, my brother, who is energetic and lively that it drove anyone up the wall. I could just imagine Mother not only yelling at him, but probably beating him up, and I didn't want that for Alfred, even though he has grained my nerves when he showed that personality.

Then he met Gilbert, and Alfred simply blurted out that he was weird, due to him being albino. This of course made Gilbert retort that Alfred is just plain unawesome, and from there it was a spat war against each other, which Francis and Antonio were laughing and got it on film of all things. It was kinda funny, but I started to laugh right out when Alfred tried to pick a fight, only to be held back by one hand on his head by Gilbert, who had a grin on his face that he won this without having to do much.

"You're fun to mess with, but your brother tops you in the awesome category, and don't you forget it." He said, making me blush, which I had to shove my face into the white fur of my bear.

"Help a brother out here!" Alfred said looking towards me.

"Uh… you didn't know I existed until a month ago, eh."

"That's no excuse!" He said as the Bad Trio and I laughed.

When the court was done with and the papers were signed, I was to go to America with my father and Alfred in New York.

"You're gonna love it! There's a lot of things to do there that you'll wear out before you even begin!" Alfred boasted the life in New York.

But I like my quiet Canadian atmosphere in the beautiful nature, but it looks like I don't have a choice, now that Father is stable enough to support both of us and he's a better suited parent, seeing how Alfred hasn't driven him up the wall.

"We'll come down once a month for six months to be sure that this is the right choice. Just a precaution." Fritz said to Father, who agreed that he doesn't mind and would expect to see him soon.

"Well, Mattie, seems you're well on your way." Gilbert said as he was here after begging Fritz to skip school today to see me off to America.

I didn't know what to say as I hugged him, a few traitorous tears coming out. "I'll miss you…" I whispered, hoping he wouldn't hear, but he did and felt an arm around me.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Mattie. Out of the three of us, you're an anchor to the three of us. Before we kinda took you in, we would get into a lot of trouble. We were hooligans as your ex-mom said, but our music became something that give us an excuse to ignore all those things that people say about us. And then we found you and you're so quiet and cute that I swear all of us have cavities just looking at you the first time."

"You're the one who found me first." I corrected, remembering that fated time.

Gilbert chuckled as he messed with my hair. "Well, I'm awesome like that. You know that."

I giggled when Alfred came up, not seeing that we're sharing a tender moment here, and said that it was time for us to go. Next thing I knew, I was in the back seat, looking out of the back window and waving to Gilbert and Fritz, who were doing the same.

And true to Fritz's words, he and Gilbert would come down to New York to see how I was doing and catch up.

XXXXXXX

Life with Father and Alfred has been different, but there were some similarities. At school, people mistook me for Alfred, which was crazy because we look a tad different. When people do realize their mistake, they asked if I'm a twin of Alfred, who I told them I'm not and I'm the youngest, which surprised a lot of people, especially the ones who knew Alfred since moving here.

I did make one friend at my new school, but Alfred and he had a bad history and I was often mistaken for him, which results in hitting me upside the head before realizing his mistake, in which he offered ice cream as a peace offering. This happens every day, but the reason was a simple case of mistaken identity, which didn't bother me at that point.

The third month of their visit, Francis and Antonio came down as well and offered to take me and Alfred to the Central Park, since they wanted to see it since they were here for a few days. It was a lot of fun, and Alfred liked the two to a degree, but rather play with the kids his own age. Me, I was okay with playing with the Bad Touch Trio, which became the talk about thing at the school when they had to go back to Canada.

I was questioned a lot about why the big kids would play with me. I told them some details of my past, in which Alfred boasted something that made it seem more dramatic than needed, but everyone got the message and, for a few weeks, I had a lot of people hanging around me, probably thinking that if they did this, they would also join in to the 'big kids club'. But soon everyone forgot why they were hanging around me and did their own thing. That and Alfred got really annoying when he hangs around as well.

But the fourth visit, another lawyer came to visit us and I asked if Fritz was coming, because he always brings Gilbert. The man said that Fritz is dead due to a sudden heart attack and Gilbert had to be sent back to Germany, where he was going to stay with his new mother, that his father never mentioned ever, and younger brother. He said that the attack was sudden and he and the rest of the department were in shock when they heard about it, but it was worse for Gilbert, who was there when it happened, called the hospital, and was the one who had to hear the news… alone. I asked if he had the new address to Gilbert's new home in Germany or some way of contacting him. Luckily this new lawyer was up to date about my friendship with Gilbert and handed me the address to Gilbert's new home in Berlin, Germany, and immediately started to write a letter to him, describing what happened when I didn't see him or Fritz, how sorry I was and shocked to hear that he's dead, and all sorts of things. When I was done, I finished it with 'Love, Mattie', placed it in the envelope, stamped it, wrote the address on there, wrote the return address on the corner, and sent it, all in the matter of an hour and a half.

It was another month, and another visit of a different lawyer before I got a return response from Gilbert, in a big, goldenrod envelope. I ran to my room, opened it, and it was a thin album-like book and opened it to see a picture of Gilbert, who was the one holding the camera from what it looks like. There was a white envelope under the picture, taped so that it stayed in the book, and had my name written on it. I opened that one and read what he had to say.

_'Dear Mattie,_

_It's great to hear from you, I was surprised when I got your letter, but I'm really happy to hear that everything is going good. And about Fritz, thanks for that, I can't imagine what you thought when you heard about that. And the part where I'm living with my new mutti und bruder (mom and brother in German), I'll tell you I thought I was going to kill my old man when I heard that he had a wife the whole time he was raising me before he booted me out, and even more so when she found out about me. But she's pretty awesome that she was downright pissed at my ex-dad (who is dead, danke gott) and took me in in a heartbeat. And my brother, Ludwig, is about your age, give or take one year ahead, meaning that bastard has been cheating on my mom with her, and neither knew the other existed, imagine her surprise that she heard that, because she married that bastard she became my only living relative. Like I said, she took me in in a heartbeat. But damn she's strict! I swear she must've been a general of some army force in another life!_

_But anyway, back to my brother… He's kinda cute, but not as cute as you, and looks more like Mutti than that bastard (danke got for that too!), and I can tell he's a lot like her too, being a bit demanding and a bit of a worry wart. Like I said, he's not as cute as you._

_I miss you too… I miss Francis and Antonio too, but, and you probably don't know this, but those two moved back to France and Spain after the funeral. But I miss you more, even though I knew those two longer. Well, I made a bit of an album, as you can see, and I hope you like it, because it was hell putting it together._

_Try to write back again sometime, okay?_

_The Awesome Gilbert.'_

I looked through the album, the next page was the group picture of me, Gilbert, Fritz, Francis, and Antonio at my birthday party. Gilbert has an arm around me as he lifted me up high enough to be leveled with the other taller males in the group, and smiling just as brightly as everyone. The other page was no doubt taken by Fritz, because it had only me and Gilbert, sleeping on the couch after the party and tried to stay up watching old movies.

The next page was of a woman with blond hair that only brushed her shoulders, sharp light blue eyes, looking shocked in her pink apron over her black pajamas. This was his new mom making breakfast while the page over was Gilbert, holding the camera again, and holding a blond haired, light blue eyed boy who seemed to be clueless and caught off guard with a book in his hand, no doubt Ludwig.

The next few pages were of his new home, a quaint two story house that seem to be about fifty plus years old, surrounded by forests. And the next couple pages were of the actual city of Berlin, all of it was really neat in both sense of the word. Then there was a picture or two of his school, with some annoyed faces of the students and teachers, which I could just picture him going around the campus, simply taking pictures before he got them developed and only picked these out of who knows how many. This made me giggle. Then there were three dogs, with a note in a sharpie pen saying 'Bro's dogs' Blackie the German Shepard, Berlitz the Dolberman, and Aster the Goldie.

After looking through the album, I started to work on my reply letter to him, and that continued for the next eight years.

* * *

><p>And that is the first of three of this fic. Hope you liked it.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Part two of three, enjoy.

* * *

><p>It has been eight years since I lived with Father and Alfred, and my contact with Gilbert hasn't changed. Nor has my feelings for him. Many times I wonder if I was somewhat insane from living with Mother to fall for someone five years older than me. But then I have met older couples who were ten years apart and are still happy, but then they were usually a man and woman couple.<p>

I'm now nineteen years old, which makes Gilbert twenty-four by this time, and I got tickets to go to Germany as my graduation gift from Father.

"Are you going to look for that young man?" Father asked when I told him what I would like for a graduation gift.

I nodded. "I haven't seen him in eight years… And he can be my guide when I go to Berlin."

Father never did have a problem with Gilbert, but at my age he has to question whether or not I like him as a friend or something more, which I would deny and come up with some excuse.

"Besides, Alfred is in Japan for his college, surprisingly…" I said, remembering the day Alfred up and announced that he got accepted to a college there. Needless to say Father nearly had a heart attack.

Alfred wanted to be a hero ever since childhood, but now that he's older, and slightly controlled in his antics… slightly being the key word… he wants to be a representative, and he always wanted to live in Japan for a few years, why not go to school there?

I just hope he doesn't do something that would cause a nationwide disagreement there. Maybe being immersed with a different culture is just what he needs, since he's too stubborn to back out on anything once he gets what he wants.

I sent Gilbert an e-mail about me coming out, and he replied that it was awesome beyond awesome that I was coming out to see him before I start my first college year in Canada. I figured I would spend a year in Canada and then transfer to a school in Germany for the remaining three, but I have to find the school first. This is one of many excuses that didn't involve Gilbert as Father would like to believe, which seems to not work either way.

"I suppose… Being a stranger in a stranger land does get overwhelming without someone who knows the area." Father agreed. "But be sure you look into those schools there if you're really planning on doing so."

"I will." I said, happy that he accepted.

"I know you will. I keep forgetting your nineteen now, which is still young enough to screw a lot of things up. But you're a smart young man. Alfred is too, but you're more calm-headed than him."

I couldn't help but giggle at that as I started to pack for my trip. It was going to be late summer early fall there, so I packed light clothing, a rain jacket because it does rain there, and some personal items before I was set to go.

XXXXXXX

When I did arrive at the airport, I felt nervous to the point where I thought I was going to lose whatever was in my stomach from yesterday. Seeing Gilbert, my long time crush and one of my awesome friends in the entire world after so many years made me wonder if I'm going to mess up somewhere between arrival and departure to Canada. I looked around to find anyone with hair and skin as white as snow and red, mischievous yet kind eyes.

"Birdie!"

I turned to the man who called my nickname, which I received when I turned thirteen through one of our letters, and I immediately ran up to the man I was looking for. "Gil! Hi!" I said as I went up to him, only to be engulfed into a hug. I heard somewhere that Germans don't openly display emotions like this, but I guess Gilbert was an exception, or completely false, as I hugged back.

"Mein Gott! It's been for-fucking-ever!" He said loudly, apparently he doesn't care about the other people around him, which I was okay with, I didn't care either. He looked me up and down and laughed. "Definitely grown up and all that!" He said as he patted my shoulders. "I half expected you to still be short."

"Come on!" I said as I playfully punched his arm, which he laughed as he rubbed where I punched him.

"And you grew a bit of a backbone! While still looking so damn cute!"

"Gil~" I whined, knowing that guys don't like to be called cute for any reason other than when we're little. But I blushed because I did like to hear that from him, and the fact that he was so excited to see me.

"Well! We better get to my place then and freshen up. Mutti and West, and his boyfriend, are coming to dinner to meet you."

"Huh? Your family is coming? And Ludwig has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah! Took me by surprise too! I must've mentioned you so much that they want to meet you for real this time. And you'll love West's boyfriend. Who would've thought that guy would go for my little bruder?"

"I don't know about this boyfriend, Gil." I said, feeling a bit out of the loop.

"Eh? Oh! Right! You know that crazy Italian guy I mentioned in my last dozen of e-mails?"

I nodded, remembering when he mentioned that Ludwig, with okay from his mother, signed himself to house an Italian exchange student, who would then stay a year to educate about the culture and other basic things for education. Apparently they got a very cheery one out of the bunch and it threw everyone against the curb, much to Gilbert's amusement, which he put in every detail of what went on during the stay.

"That's the boyfriend."

I blinked. "When did this happen?"

"Don't you mean how? Because quite frankly, I knew West was doomed the moment Feli came up and introduce himself in that Italian way." He crackled. "Seeing his face as red and bright as a Christmas light was the highlight of my day then. But you know that."

I nodded, remembering the letter describing it in detail, and even seeing a video of it when he learned how to do that. It was when Feliciano, or Feli, came up to Ludwig, who had his hand out to shake hands with the other, only to have a kiss on each cheek and a hug. This of course sent Gilbert into a hysterics of laughter as his mother took the camera as she explained to Feli that they don't do that so easily here, which was the first form of culture shock that the Italian has heard, and apparently to Ludwig as well, who hasn't moved the entire time since the introduction. I shamelessly laughed along with Gilbert when I saw that on my computer.

"Well! It was Feli who took the first move, no surprise there." Gilbert said with an eye roll. "I expected West to do something, which I can capture the moment as he tries and fails."

I giggled, knowing that was something that he would do. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Neither have you! Except growing taller as me and possibly toned under all that." He said as he pointed out my loose white tee shirt, a red, open zipper sweatshirt hoodie, loose jeans and tennis shoes.

I blushed as I punched his arm again. "Gil!" I said, blushing because it was true. I played a lot of hockey since I moved to New York, which was the only time Alfred and Father ever saw how scary I could be. I'm also the captain of the hockey team during my high school years, so of course I would have to keep in shape to still keep that position until graduation. I don't think anyone can beat my record though, but that's another story.

He laughed of course, knowing that it's true. "It's a good thing that you came at a good time. Otherwise you'll be covered in nothing but layers."

I blushed more as he mentioned this. "You want me to hit you again?" I said, which was responded with a laugh.

"Still a bit defensive, but that's cool." He said, calming down as we got my bag and headed to his car. "I'll give you the tour tomorrow, you must be tired from jet lag."

"Getting there." I said, but really I was mostly tired from the nerves and my uncharacteristic antics on the way to the baggage claim, but that didn't mean I didn't enjoy being that side of me that usually pops up when I'm playing hockey.

"Rest up then. Don't want you to simply die from exhaustion before going to my place."

"Right, then this trip would be pointless." I said as I slept before he could respond. Honestly, who could sleep comfortably on planes?

XXXXXXX

When I woke up, I was in a bedroom, the guest room probably, and smelled something really good and nostalgic. It was a stew that Fritz would make with Gilbert's help back in Canada. It was one of my favorites when I was little and didn't have it since.

I made myself look presentable, in case his family and Feli are there already, and went to find him, in the kitchen with a white apron that I immediately recognized as Fritz's when he was alive. It made me smile seeing Gilbert wear that, it means he still cares about him even after all this time. "Hey Gil." I said, making myself known.

He turned and smiled. "Hey Mattie, you were out a while." He said as he turned back to the stew. "But you got good timing, Mutti should be here in a couple minutes, and West is driving here as well, so he'll follow a few minutes after she arrives."

I nodded as I looked around. "Just relax, Mattie, I got everything set so you can just greet my family and Feli while I finish up the stew, okay?" He said as I looked to see that he was looking at me, looking mature and more handsome just then. I simply nodded when I heard the doorbell. "She's early. Go ahead and answer, she's expecting you anyway."

I went up to the door and opened to see the woman, her hair slightly longer and starting to pale more to a white color, wearing square rimmed glasses, and some wrinkles, but still a very attractive woman.

"Are you Matthew?" She asked and I smiled and told her I was and let her in. "It's nice to finally meet you. Gilbert would not stop talking about you ever since he came to live with us."

"He's told me." I said, blushing a bit as she hung her coat up, seeing that she knows where things are and not expecting anyone to do it for her.

"Did you just get in?"

"A few hours ago." I said. "I sort of just got up from my jet lag nap." I added sheepishly.

"I know how that feels." She said with a sympathetic smile as she asked where Gilbert was, which I mentioned to the kitchen, which she looked surprised. "Gilbert? You're cooking?" She called out.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Gilbert called back, with only a slight annoyance. "Who the hell was awesome enough to teach West to cook while you were away on those EU trips you have to go to so that you've done your part of saving the world!"

"I'm not saving the world! How many times must I explain it!" She said with a roll of her eyes before looking at me. "Sorry, you're going to experience a lot of these conversations."

I giggled. "I kinda look forward to it. Gilbert says so much about you guys that I'm happy to meet you on my first day here."

"Technically your first day is tomorrow, this is the day you arrive." Gilbert said as he took the pot with the stew in it and placed it at the center of the small table, which is large enough to fit five people and everyone can reach to get a few spoonfuls of the stew.

The doorbell rang once more and I opened the door to see Ludwig, twenty years old, taller than Gilbert, fully built and at the moment looked completely confused. "Hello Ludwig, come on in." I said as I let him in, which he did, followed by Feli, an Italian with short, light brunette hair with hints of red in the light and a curl sticking out from the rest over his left ear and was a bit shorter than me. He has a verbal tick of 've' before looking at me, or at least I think he was looking at me because his eyes are closed.

"Hey West! Hey Feli! Glad you can make it!" Gilbert said as I closed the door. "You guys have met Mattie, the guy I told you about forever."

That's when I saw the recognition in their faces as Feli grabbed my hands and did some kind of shaking them in a childish manner.

"It's so good to finally meet you, Mateo! Gilbert told us so much about you and show us pictures of you! You're really pretty! And very cute just like Gilbert says you are! Ve~ You're so quiet too! You must be very shy just as Gilbert says!" He said as he opened his eyes, and I can only guess why Ludwig fell for him after the introduction. His eyes were like honey, a nice golden-brown color that can light up a room and make you feel lost in them until you're trapped. Much like honey when you don't wash it off right away.

"Okay, Feli, I think he gets it." Gilbert said as he patted the Italian's head like a dog. "Come on! I got stew ready."

"Ve~ Is it good as pasta?" Feli asked as he clung onto Ludwig, looking up at him.

"Better than store bought ones." Ludwig responded, which seems to be enough for Feli as they sat down together, Gilbert's mother sitting next to Feli, and I sat next to her while Gilbert sat next to me and Ludwig.

Dinner was great, there were some stories told, many of which Gilbert's mother tried to embarrass him with, with a few add ins with Ludwig's help and Feli's clueless support to be a longer topic then needed. Then to help compensate for his wounded pride, I told a few embarrassing moments in my life, I told them about my love of hockey, which Gilbert added that I'm still a killer on the ice, and about Alfred is in school in Japan.

"What? That unawesome brother of yours is in Japan?"

"Yeah, he wants to be a representative or something like that." I replied as he groaned that 'we're doomed', which I playfully punched his arm. "He's a bit mature since the last time you saw him." I defended.

"How much mature are we talking?" He asked, and he got me there.

"He doesn't barge into rooms anymore…" I admitted while everything else is still kinda the same.

"We're doomed."

"Ve~ Didn't Japan get hit by that earthquake?" Feli said.

"His school is farther south than where the disaster is right now." I said, which was a relief when I heard what happened, but apparently he's taking time off his classes to help out. He made a close friend there who has family up there and he wanted to be the 'hero', but in a respectable sense. I explained this to them and Gilbert nodded, which probably means that he has changed his view that Alfred is still very kid like in his thinking and acting.

"You heard from him recently?" Gilbert's mother asked.

"I did receive an e-mail from him just before I left. He said that he's helping as a volunteer in the ports along with some American troops that are stationed there. He also lets me know that his friend, Kiku I do believe is his name, is getting better, emotionally, and that his friends and family in that area are safe except for one of his uncles having radiation. But other than that they're just working a lot over there. He even admitted that he hasn't slept for two nights in a row, but he's happy to do this because he's doing something and helping out a friend." I responded, remembering in one of our e-mails that he admitted to liking this friend of his, but not really sure what to make of it, but not going to worry about it at this point.

"How long is he planning on staying in Japan?" Ludwig asked, being quiet most of the evening.

"He said for only four years, but since the disaster, he's going to take a break to help out. So I may not see him for five or more years depending on how this will go. But I'm proud of him for staying by to do something. He's wanting to do that all his life." I said with a smile. "And he's also helping out a friend, which is more than he expected I think, because he never mentioned having anyone to help out other than just being hero. So this is a personal matter to him as well." I remembered all the time we were in school together, the crowds of people that admire him, the girls he's dated because of that charm, but it was all show in the end. Maybe that's why he wanted to go to another country, to get away from the things that blinded him the first time.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Gilbert asked me, since I must've gotten quiet all of a sudden.

"Oh, I was just thinking if maybe he wanted to go to a school in a different country is to have a new perspective than what he was used to seeing." I said as I explained more about what I've noticed growing up with Alfred.

All in all, it was an interesting and inspiring dinner, and I've only been in Germany in only five or six hours.

XXXXXXX

After dinner, the family and Feli left to go home, Gilbert was doing the dishes and I was going to help when he tried to talk me out of it, but I stood my ground and he let me.

"You've changed a bit." Gilbert said.

"I think we already established that." I said, thinking back at the airport.

"No, I mean the way you feel comfortable about talking about things now" He said, being very serious. "I remember when you were a kid, you would barely talk about anything. Not your problems with that bitch or those bastards at school. Hell, even talking about things you like took a lot of coaxing from all of us." He said as he stopped scrubbing the pot he used to cook the stew in. "But today, especially this evening, you're so open and comfortable, even when you're now in a new country different from the two that you grew up in." He smiled a rare, gentle smile that I haven't seen since I was a child. And he would only smile that way when we're alone. "It's good on you, really is." He said as he resumed scrubbing the pot. "Damn old thing! It's fucking stew not hair dye damnit!" He cursed at the pot, making me laugh.

"You're talking to a pot, Gil."

"You try scrubbing the stew scum off of this!" He said with a pointed glare. "Damn thing! No wonder it's so damn cheap!"

"Maybe you should leave it to soak overnight." I voiced, knowing that sometimes Alfred would forget to put the dishes into the wash, and would harden to the point where scrubbing alone is a workout.

He sighed, admitting defeat… for now. "At least this thing can drown in its own soapy scum overnight." He reasoned, still treating the pot like it's a breathing object.

With that reasoned out, I headed up to the room and Gilbert headed to the couch. "You're not going to bed?"

"You're using my room. This is a one room house, one bath place."

"Why didn't you tell me that before! I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

He waved a finger at me with a tsk sound. "No way, Birdie, I spend the whole week cleaning my room for you. And Mutti will have my hide if I let you sleep on the couch. Now march up those stairs and get to bed, or I'll carry you like I did earlier. Though, I may have to knock you out so you don't struggle."

I sighed in defeat, knowing he can easily overpower me. "You're lucky it's not hockey season, otherwise I'll be the one doing the knocking out and carrying." He crackled as he turned me around and playfully shoved me up the stairs. I figured, because I'm older now, he can rough house a little verses when I was little and can't rough house as much due to how small and weak I was.

Once we got to the door of the room, he opened it for me, which was strange as I looked at him. "I'm not a woman." I said.

"Sorry, kind of an old habit since I started living with Mutti. She has this brother with a stuck up son, who is technically my cousin, and I have to learn to be a gentleman and open doors to women and guests. But then again it's usually the front door…" He looked way, a sign of embarrassment since he couldn't really blush.

"That's very kind." I said as he snorted.

"Yeah, when you're not the one doing it." He said, which I couldn't help but smile and gave him a hug.

"Thank you anyway, for everything." I said, realizing that I never did properly thanked him as a child for being there when I needed him.

"No problem, Birdie. You would do the same for me if I ever came over." He said as he messed with my hair, like he usually did when I was little. "Though if you open bedroom doors for me, then you better come inside with me."

I punched him in the chest. "Pervert!" I said with a blush, which he laughed.

"What can I say? I can't stay a sap for longer than five minutes. You know that."

I waved it off. "Ja, ja." I said, trying out my overly simplistic German I can remember, making him laugh.

"Mein Gott! That was so fucking adorable coming from you! Whoever said German language is a harsh language never heard you say it!"

"I only use the one meaning 'yes'! And German language is really nice when spoken fluently. Not like the half assed ones from those learning it for the first time."

"Still! It was fucking adorable!"

I shook my head and headed into the room. "I'm going to bed."

"Sweet dreams then, and I'm glad you finally got your cute ass over here."

"Gute Nacht." I said, another thing I remember without difficulty.

"Damn, you make German sound so damn cute. I take back what I said earlier." He said with a mocking tone.

"Good Night." I said again in plain English before closing the door, allowing myself some privacy.

XXXXXXX

The next morning, I got up, and the jet lag must've gotten to me full time the second time around because it was almost noon. I wasted half the day already. I headed down to find Gilbert, dressed and drinking a beer of some German brand. "Hello Gil, sorry I overslept."

He waved it off. "I expected it." He said with an easy going grin as he looked my way. "How awake are you? You did promise your old man that you would check into the colleges around here."

I was surprised he remembered that e-mail about one of the many reasons I'm here for. But I told him I'm awake enough now, just water and I would be ready to go.

"No you're not." He said with a dull expression.

"Pardon?"

"You haven't eaten anything since you got up, right? I'm not going to let you step out to go college touring without something sustainable in you." He got up and started to make something.

"We can go out somewhere." I said, knowing that it was too late as he got everything out.

"Yeah, but nothing that's suited to the right needs." He said as he finished making a sandwich for me. "You're still planning on continuing hockey, right?"

"If the colleges have it." I said as I took a bite of the sandwich, which is good despite being fixed up right on the spot."

"Then there's a diet you follow through, right?"

I knew where he was getting at and looked at my sandwich and saw that they're the things I need to at least get through the day without being overdulgent, which Alfred does and still a mystery how he hasn't gained weight. "Thank you." I said.

He waved it off. "Blame Mutti, she was always on my ass about health and what not. In fact Feli about drove her crazy with always asking about pasta every damn minute. It was funny at first but then I got annoyed and had to chip in to helping him understand that he also has to understand German food culture as well. We went so far as tying him down in a chair and had to spoon feed him until West came in and had a bitch fit about how we were treating him and all that drama shit." He said as he rubbed the bridge between his eyes, as if remembering the headache. "Gott what a horrible day, but it was the day that Mutti and I bonded for a moment."

I was done with my sandwich when he was done talking about that point of his life and smiled. "You could've just said you were concerned about my health and save you the headache."

He rolled his eyes and pointed at me. "Now don't you start acting cute with me. You're cute enough as it is without trying." He said as he took the plate and placed it in the sink to worry about later. "Come on, we got a lot of ground to cover."

XXXXXXX

After a long day being in the car and going to two college tours, we were wiped out.

"Shit… I forgot how exhausting those tours are." Gilbert said, which reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask.

"What did you major in?"

He chuckled. "Took you this long to ask me?"

"I wasn't really thinking about college when you were going through with it."

He chuckled again as he wrapped an arm around me. "I majored in History and a minor with music."

"You still play the violin?" I asked, hoping he still does.

"Of course! Fritz taught me how to play since he took me in. If I lose touch with it, it would bother the hell out of me."

"Can I hear you play again?" I asked, realizing how childish I sounded as he chuckled.

"Still caught up in the music, huh?"

I blushed as he got up and told me to wait there. He came back down with the violin, seeing that it was well used like he said and started to play. Again I felt the music surrounding, and again I saw the look he has when he plays.

When he was done, he placed the instrument back into its case and looked up at me. "Like it?"

I nodded. "I've always love the music you and Francis and Antonio make together. But when you play alone, it feels like the whole room is surrounded by it, but at the same time you're also under its spell."

"You're such a sap." He said with a grin, but I could tell he was touched by what I said. "Thanks, everyone else loves it when I play, but they're not that awesome of an audience." He and I both chuckled at that, because I knew he would say something like that.

It was like that for a couple days before the college tour things were done with and it was mostly sight- seeing, which includes camping.

XXXXXXX

"Wow! It's beautiful!" I said, looking at the lake on a beautiful, cloudless day.

"You should see this place in the spring, before all the snow melts." He said as he applied sunscreen on, which he didn't seem happy to do, but he has to for his rare skin complexion.

"I bet it's very green then."

"No shit. I swear it's like I never left Canada sometimes." He said as he was done applying and handed out the lotion to me. "You better put some on you as well. I'm not going to be the only one wearing this stuff on."

"It is rather bright and warm out." I said, not at all put off what he said because he actually meant something different, he's just that kind of guy.

We spent the next few days camping there before we headed back to his house.

"Man it's good to be home." He said as he crashed onto the couch. "Remind me never to go camping near a lake again."

"It's not all that bad."

"That damn monster almost bit my awesome hand off! The little unawesome fucker!" He said dramatically as he showed the bandaged finger.

"Gil… it was a squirrel… But it could've carried rabies so I'll give you that."

"Birdie~ I'm serious!"

"So am I." I said as I placed both hands on my hips. "Now go wash up while I get dinner ready."

"Hey now! You're the guest here! You wash up and I'll cook!"

I held out my fist to him. "Rock, paper, scissors?" I asked, remembering that Alfred and I played this game a lot and in one of my e-mails from him mentioned that that's how many tough decisions were made between him and Kiku. Alfred always lost to him.

He rolled his eyes but he held out his fist, I did the count off, and he opened his hand out as paper and mine was scissors. "Two out of three." He said, but I pointed to where the bathroom is.

"March." I said with a bit of a smile. He mumbled something in German that I didn't catch but he did go into the bathroom while I headed to the kitchen and started making dinner.

I was half way done when I heard him come into the kitchen.

"Hey Birdie, where the heck did you do with my clothes?"

It was then I made the mistake of turning and seeing him in nothing but a towel around his waist. I must've had some kind of look on my face because the next thing I knew, he walked up closer to me with a grin that made me shiver and feel powerless.

"Like what you see? Birdie?"

"Closet!" I shouted, making him back up a bit.

"Er… Danke." He said as he left, and I swear he was moving his hips just for added amusement to him.

As he left, I took a deep breath and hit myself a couple times, chanting how stupid I was. It wasn't that I haven't seen him topless before, but this is the first time I've seen him with a towel around his waist, meaning that it could slip any moment and- I wanted to bang my head against the nearest wall to stop the image.

If there's one thing I would complain to God about, it would be the damn hormones. It took me by surprise when I first wet my bed and Alfred told me that I'm on the road to becoming a man. But now I just plain hated its existence when my long time crush is within reach and I still remember my first half kiss on his birthday. Then I remember that I have dinner to finish preparing and luckily nothing was ruined before he came back in a Prussian blue shirt and white pajama pants with small, cute yellow birds on them.

"Was?" He asked as he sat down.

"Oh, I just thought your pajama pants are cute."

"Gift from Feli last Christmas." He said as I set the plate down and we ate in silence for a moment. "When do you leave?"

I didn't think too much about the question as I thought about what today was, and remembered when I had to leave and told him. The day was only two weeks away.

I was only half done with my plate when I sensed that I was being watched and I looked up to see Gilbert watching me. "Gil? What's wrong?"

"You plan on taking up housing on campus after you're done in Canada?"

I blinked as I thought about it. "I didn't want to worry too far ahead, but I guess so."

"Getting a room on campus is expensive as hell though. That's why I saved enough to buy this place."

"But you do have to pay the mortgage and all that."

"Ja, but it beats the cramped space of a dorm." He said as he took a bite of food.

"Is my cooking that bad?"

"Nein, it's good. I'm just wondering what you have in mind for a place to stay when you decide to come here for schooling."

"That's very kind of you to worry about me like that, but I think I can get by."

He gave me a look before sighing. "You're a smart guy, Birdie. Even as a kid you were pretty damn smart. Then again trusting three strangers isn't really a smart thing." He said with a bit of a grin, making me giggle.

"That's true, but I somehow knew that you and the others were not that kind of people who brush off a kid if they were not annoying to them."

"That's true. I met my fair share of annoying brats before we met." Gilbert said with his infamous grin. "And you are so goddamn cute."

"Don't call me cute…" I said with a pout and I felt my face slightly burn.

"Tough." He said teasingly as we finished our meal and he ordered me to take my shower, which I did without argue and when I was done, he called me to the living room and we watched a movie together.

XXXXXXX

I must've fallen asleep sometime during the movie, because I woke up with the sunlight in my eyes before they adjusted to see a sleeping Gil. We were both on the couch, the television still on with a barely audible volume, and I saw that his arms were wrapped around me like I would with my bear. To this day he still is a secret cuddler. I carefully got those arms off of me and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

I was halfway done when two arms wrapped around my waist and I turned to look to see Gilbert, lips just barely meeting by how close his head was.

"What are you making?" He asked, his warm breath brushing over me as my mind didn't work for a moment before it kicked start itself and I answered that I was making pancakes with some apple bits that he made to make strudel, which he had a craving for, hence why I'm using the left over apple bits to use for the pancakes.

"Smells really good… But I don't think it'll beat the strudel though."

"That wasn't the intention, but if it goes out okay then I'll be happy just eating it."

Gilbert chuckled as he nuzzled me, which is quite a surprise.

'Still a bit tired if he's a bit too out of character.' I thought as I was sure I was blushing.

"Are they almost done?"

"Yes, so just sit down and I'll get it ready."

"But I like it here."

"Eh?" Was my response as he chuckled and left me be to sit down. I shook my head and got the last pancake onto the plate and set both of ours down on the table. "Here you go." I said, making him chuckle. "What?"

"If I told you, you'll hit me."

"Eh?"

He laughed as he pointed at me. "I just had a passing thought about you being my wife."

"Eh! What makes you think that!"

He just laughed as I sat down and kicked him under the table.

"Ow! Damn, why'd you kick me?"

"You said that if you told me that I was going to hit you. But you didn't say anything about kicking you."

He stuck out his tongue at me as he took another bite of the pancake. "Damn. You have a damn gift of making pancakes."

"It's easy though…"

"No, there's something you do to make them irresistible." He said. "I should know, I've made pancakes before, but they don't even level up to yours."

I felt my face warm up again as I finished my plate. "So, what are we doing today?" I asked when the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell would visit the awesome at this hour?" He asked as he got up. "Sometimes my awesome is just too much." He said with a grin as he left to get the door while I gathered the dishes to get to cleaning when I heard him groaning and saying something in German, then someone else was talking and curiosity got the best of me as I poked my head out to see another man, somewhere around Gilbert's age, with very neat, regal combed back dark brown hair with a strand of hair sticking out, wearing glasses and there was a mole at the corner of his jaw.

By the sound of Gilbert's tone, he wasn't happy to see this man. That's when another person, a young woman, came up and was holding a pan, almost like a threat as Gilbert growled.

"Eh… Gil…" I said, but it was very quiet that I went up until I was only a foot away from Gilbert, which is when the woman took notice of me and shoved Gilbert away easily to look at me. I was scared as the woman's green eyes were studying me. I have to admit though, she's very pretty with her long, light brunette hair with a small flower clip above her right ear. I wondered if Gilbert liked her too.

She turned to look at Gilbert and seemed to be pissed off about something, which Gilbert responded with an equally pissed off tone as he went to my side and had his arm around my shoulders, which I blushed a bit.

"Sorry you have to get involved in this, Birdie." He said as he pointed to the two. "The pan wielding she-devil is Elizabetha, and the stiff there is the cousin I told you about some time ago, Roderich."

"You have a visitor?" Roderich said as he adjusted his glasses to see me better.

"Yeah, I told you about him, but you were too busy trying to be the next Mozart or whatever."

Roderich 'humph'ed as he looked around the place from where he stood. "Well, I just came to get back the music sheets you stole the last time you visited."

"So you went all the way from Austria just to get them? There's a thing called a computer, a printer, and a site to print those things out and make your own damn book."

"Then why bother stealing mine?"

"To piss you off of course. 'Cause I'm awesome and you're not."

Roderich sighed as he turned to leave. "Come on, Elizabetha." He said, only for the woman to not move, continuing to stare at me. "Elizabetha?"

She then looked at Gil and crossed her arms. "He can do better." She said simply as she walked out the door and closed it, leaving us completely confused.

"The fuck was that about?" Gilbert said as I shook my head, not knowing either. "Oh well! It's a good thing that we're heading out."

"We are?"

"Yeah! After seeing those two, I don't like to sit back and let them have all the fun."

"This isn't some kind of strange competition you guys have, is it?"

"Nope." He said as he threw a jacket at me. "Besides it's a great day out."

He wasn't wrong on that, it was gorgeous today. Perfect really. And for a few hours we just enjoyed the day.

XXXXXXX

"Did you and Elizabetha have a thing?" I asked out of the blue when we stopped for something to drink, which he spit out a mouthful of beer when I asked.

"The hell?"

"I'm sorry! I was just curious…"

He lifted a brow as he shook his head. "You owe me another beer." He said as he took another gulp. "Yeah, she was my girlfriend for a while until Roddy came to visit one summer about five years ago." He did his unique laugh as he continued. "Then again, I kinda had a thing for Roddy too, only to annoy the living crap out of him because he has that musician stick way up his ass. So, in the end they hooked up without my knowing, which is unawesome, and now whenever I get to close to Specs, she would hit me with that frying pan of evil, or if I do something that she doesn't like." He rubbed his head as if he could still feel the pain.

"So you swing either way?" I asked as he nearly choked on his beer again.

"That's two beers now. And don't make it sound like I'm Francis. Did you know I had to bust him out of jail because he was accused for harassing a minor? Then again she was asking for it from the way she was dressed, or so he says, I never met the bitch."

"What about Antonio?"

"Last I heard he got kicked out from his strick Christian family home and now engaged to Feli's older brother of all people."

"Feli has an older brother?"

"Yeah, though they look like twins, but West lucked out on Feli, because his brother is a pain in the ass."

"He's that bad?"

He laughed. "That guy hates us Germans with a passion for unknown reasons, but at least he doesn't call us Nazis, I'll give that little bastard points for that. But he does call us potato bastards, which yeah we do like our potatoes, but not enough to eat it day in and day out."

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"And yet Toni likes that moody bastard, which he affectionately nickname him his Little Tomato. And in turn he is called Tomato Bastard by his boy toy soon to be wife."

"That's kind of mean." I said, but I can't get the grin off my face.

"You know how the saying goes 'the truth hurts'."

"Well, as long as he's happy with… did you ever say what his name was?"

"Romano."

"As in Rome."

"Where else?" He laughed as I started to laugh as well. "Yeah… Toni is happy with him, even though Romano is like the abuser, but it seems that he's tamed by him. Don't know how, but I can think of some things…" He said with a waggle of his eyebrow, which I playfully shoved him a bit.

"You're such a pervert." I said as he laughed.

"Okay! I'm up for those two beers you owe me."

"Oh come on!" I said as he dragged me to a pub like place. "Gil! I'm still underage!"

"Not in Germany." He said as he dragged me to a bar and called out two beers, and a tall glass of ice cold water. "By the way, this is on you."

"I know. I know." I said as two beers in mugs and the glass water were placed in front of us. "Danke." I said as I reached for the water.

"Whoa there, Birdie, you gotta drink up your mug first."

"Huh? I thought you said-"

"I never said they were for me."

"You're lucky that I've had beer before." I said as I took a sip, only to put it down as my face immediately became warm.

"Right, you've had American beer before. But this is German beer, far better than that crap." He said as he patted my back. "Don't worry, if you get drunk, I'll get you back to my place safely."

"How much of these can you drink before you get drunk?" I asked, already feeling the buzz. 'Alfred is so going to not like hearing this, and he doesn't like to drink beer.' I thought as he chuckled.

"My record so far is twelve mugs before I have to have someone call up West to pick my happy drunk ass out."

By the way, their mugs are not small. "Twelve? Gil! The mugs are the same size as my head!" This was responded with a gut erupted laugh from him, creating a domino effect to the drunken lot in the pub.

"Gott, Mattie, you're so dramatic." He took a long swing of his beer, finishing it off and laughing. "You better finish at least half of yours.

"Gil, I already have a buzz from a sip of this, I don't think I'll make it through half."

"You're paying for these two beers, you gotta give yourself a chance to enjoy the beer."

It did taste good, so I mumbled something along the lines of German influence will kill me one day and took a swing of it, similarly what he did, and my mind went into the gutter.

XXXXXXX

When I came to, it was next morning with a headache that can equal to the tsunami hit. Honestly, I didn't remember shit after that. I tried to get up, but that only made my headache worse as I crashed back down onto the bed. Then that's when my mind started to regain its normal process. Things like, what happened back in the pub, why am I on the bed, and where is Gil?

Thinking of which, Gilbert came in and looked me over, temperature, how bad my headache felt, and so on, left the room only to come back with breakfast and something for my headache. And he made sure I was okay the next two days after I woke up.

When I was well enough to not run into walls, I started wondering what to pack for the trip to Canada, and all that planning, which didn't take long and I found Gil in the living room, watching something. I joined him and he started to tense up.

After I started getting over the hangover, I noticed that he has been a bit jumpy around me and at first I didn't mind it at first, but now I'm just curious as to what's making him like this.

"Gil? I something wrong?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, not looking at me, and I know there's nothing interesting on television.

"For one thing you tensed up when I get close to you and you don't look me in the eye when I finally got over my hang over, even now when I know that there's nothing on television that is remotely interesting to you." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Gil… did I do something that day you took me to the pub?" I saw him look at me from the corner of his eye and I got up.

"Birdie?"

"I have to make sure that I got everything while you think about it." I said, hoping that he doesn't see how hurt I was.

I sat in the room for about an hour, thinking about all the things that could've happened, the things he and I shared over the years, the time when it was just the two of us, and thinking why I fell in love with a man who may as well be far from my reach to begin with. Then I heard the sound of the violin coming just outside the door. I have heard many of his songs, each unique as he is, but this one sounded different than the others. It was sad and it made me feel like crying for a different reason. I opened the door to see him, playing, eyes closed while his movements were slow and steady as the last note was played.

He opened his eyes as we stared at each other and for a moment, everything is still, neither one of us attempted to move or break eye contact. In fact I don't think either of us took a breath before he scratched the back of his head.

"Well… you only got to the full mug before…" He started to say as he looked to the ground. "Well, thankfully everyone there doesn't understand English, or were too drunk to know, but…" He sighed. "You… admitted something."

"Gil… please tell me what happened…"

He took a deep breath before he nervously chuckled. Not a good sign.

"Well… you admitted that you kissed me on my sixteenth birthday." I blushed. "Then you got onto my lap." I felt my stomach drop. "You told me that you're in love with me with every awesome fiber of my being and all my annoying faults." My mouth went dry. "And you man handled me into one hell of a sloppy French kiss."

At this point I may as well look like I saw a ghost. "A-A-Anything…"

"You did cop a feel at my awesome five meters."

I couldn't take it anymore as every desire that I held for him was spouted out of his lips. And I wanted the world to just open up a hole and swallow me.

"Whoa, Birdie… You okay?"

"Do you have a train station nearby?" The words spout out without my knowledge as he blinked with a dumbfound look before he caught on what I was asking and shook his head.

"Listen, Matthew," Uh oh, he's using my name formally. "I know that you didn't mean to because you were drunk and all, and it was my fault for pushing you to do that." Well, yeah, it kinda was his fault. "So that was unawesome of me on that part." He's now shifting one leg to another, a nervous habit. "But well… I also have something to admit as well…"

"I'm sure it's nothing like mine…" I said, still feeling so embarrassed at this point that he knows how much I love him.

"I… kissed you in your sleep as well."

Wait… what? "Eh?"

He leaned up against the wall behind him as he looked at me. "It wasn't on the lips!" He defended himself. "But I always did that when you were asleep. You were just so damn cute, and I would do that when no one else is watching. Though I think Francis knew all along…"

"I wouldn't be surprised…" I said as I managed a small smile come up. "But it still not as bad as mine, I mean… you said so yourself that I manhandled you into a drunkard's kiss."

"And I enjoyed it." He said, not once breaking away from his serious attitude.

"Eh?"

"Mattie…" Back to the nicknames, what's going on? "I honestly don't know how to phrase this, and I don't think showing you is a great idea, so bear with me here."

I nodded, feeling completely nervous but not in a frightened way.

He took a deep breath and looked at me square in the eyes, trapping me without even knowing it. "Mattie, you're going to college in Canada in a few days, I've more or less am out of it and using the vacation time to spend time with you." He scratched his head. "I won't lie. I do like you, I really do, but I don't know how much. And I don't want to be seen as a crib stealer or something like that only to hurt you. That's the last thing I ever want to do to you."

I could feel myself about to cry, but it wasn't out of sadness or something like that but more like finally knowing. "Thank you for telling me that… You have no idea how long I've liked you… love you… But I always thought I was crazy because we're five years apart and I started liking you a lot as a child for crying out loud." I started to laugh out of nervousness. "Mon Dieu… I can't believe I admitted those things to you drunk."

"Again, partly my fault, but at least it's just you and me that knows. Those guys in the bar don't even know what the heck was going on. And I think they thought you're a girl or something."

"Gil!"

He started to laugh, which caused me to laugh as well. He and I calmed down some as he opened his arms and I went up to hug him. And for a moment the both of us enjoyed the silence as I listened to his heartbeat. After a moment we went down stairs and made dinner, noting that Gil has to go to the store soon.

XXXXXXX

The day finally arrived that I have to go to Canada, and Gilbert drove me to the airport and entered with me to as far as the security gate.

"So Birdie, ready to take on the next stage?"

I smiled a bit nervously. "Well, this would be the first time I went back in eight years… Not to mention that I'll be on my own for some time. But I'm ready." I said as he gave me a one arm hug.

"You'll be fine, Birdie. Just remember to keep your wits about you, alright?"

"Right." I said as he and I stared at each other for a while. "I'm going to miss you."

"Same, but it'll only be for a while." He smiled and kissed me on my forehead. A favored spot it seems as he likes to do that after we admitted that night. "Well! I can't keep you any longer!" He said as he patted my back. "Let me know when you settled into your dorm, alright?"

"Right!" I said as I headed to the line, then through the gate, only looking back to see him still there, waiting and making sure I got through okay before I continued on to find my gate. I started to feel lonely once more by the time I arrived where the gate is and waited for the boarding call. Then my cell phone went off and I looked to see it was a text from Gil with a picture of him, making me smile and replied to the text before saving the picture into my wallpaper and I felt ready to take on the year in Canada.

* * *

><p>Two down, one to go!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Last one!

* * *

><p>A year went by and I'm twenty years old at this point as I completed my GEDs in Canada and now on the plane to Germany where I would be transferred to a college there. I learned more German while I was in Canada and figured out what I wanted to do with myself as a career. Something political that deals with international things and the like. So I was getting into my business degree in things like that. I still kept up with letting Gilbert, and my dad and Al, with what's been going on.<p>

Speaking of Al, he got himself a job in Japan, with some help from his very close friend Kiku, and I noticed from our last few e-mails that he has found some kind of liking towards the smaller yet older man he has come to befriend in a short amount of time. Then again Kiku probably had no choice when it came to Alfred and his annoying way of getting close to people.

Anyway, I let Gil know a month ahead of time that I have booked a flight to Germany and that I got a few job offers over there near the college. He offered his housing to me, even mentioning that he and Ludwig worked on building a second room extension while I was gone. I told him that I already got a dorm at the college, and he said that it was okay and if I didn't like dorm life there then I'm welcomed to stay with him.

He and I are still good with our communication, even been so bold as to mention 'love' in our last few e-mails, but I have let him know that I tried out dating one or two people while I was in Canada. They didn't go so well.

One of them was a Russian guy that I met through hockey practice. He was really tall, and he smiles a lot to the point where it was slightly intimidating because he says some things that were creepy but seemed so childlike when he mentioned it. He had an eye for a Chinese guy who runs the snack booth there so we drifted off without really saying anything. Then there was a guy from Netherlands, and he was also tall with a serious yet low down kind of attitude. He was a man of few words, but the likes to smoke and I got my first experience with weed, which was a huge trip to me. Needless to say I avoided the stronger stuff since then, finding that it was like the time with the beer, only it left me hungry and not with a splitting headache.

Of course I mentioned all of this to Gil through our e-mail and Skype, and he finds it hilarious and that I was very lucky to have dated two guys that haven't tried to take advantage of me. Which then led to a small argument, nothing too awful though it allowed us to not talk to each other for a week afterwards.

XXXXXXX

When I did arrive, Gilbert was there to greet me once again and I swear my heart was racing by the sight of him as we exchanged a lot of things as we headed to his car and headed to the college to find out about my dorm, which turns out it was bid out by another student who has some things that only the roommate can handle. So needless to say Gilbert was lucky on having me stay at his place. Luckily that the college is only a bus trip away and Gilbert works around the times I have my classes and comes home around the same time I do.

Things were like this for at least six months before the desire came. It came in small, hardly felt bursts every time he got close, our hands brushed, when I found myself wrapped around in an embrace when we fell asleep on the couch, or the times I knew he carried me to my new room when I did fall asleep before he did. But then it becomes a bit more noticeable as I wanted to do things to keep him with me, or something like that.

One night, I was finishing up a paper when he called out from the bathroom, saying something about forgetting to put back the towels into said bathroom. So I found them in the laundry room, folded neatly and what not, and brought the pile back to the bathroom door and knocked on it.

"Gil? I got the towels."

"Great! Thanks!" He said as he just opened the door, allowing me to see the very famous five meters he mentioned more than on one occasion.

Needless to say the sexual desire erupted along with nervousness. Luckily he just grabbed the towels and closed the door, allowing me to recollect my thoughts and get back to that paper, only to have the thought of his nude form enter my mind and found out what lust is, and it was a huge distraction.

"Hey, Birdie." He asked one day after avoiding eye contact for the fifth day straight. "Is looking at my awesome five meters really making you this flustered?"

Of course my red face spoke volumes as he chuckled.

"I swear, haven't you seen another guy's dick before?" Silence. "Mattie?" More silence. "Oh shit… You're still a virgin, aren't you?"

I felt like passing out from how hot from embarrassment I was feeling. He sighed and scratched his head.

"No wonder you wouldn't looking me in the eye. You're having the hots for me more than normal, right?"

I groaned out as I buried my face into my hands.

"Birdie, there's nothing wrong with it, seriously." He said as he was next to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Look, I don't like seeing you this troubled. So the next time you feel uncomfortable about something, let me know. I know you still love me, and I bet it's frustrating to a point that I'm still not sure what I feel for you, but I'm glad you're patient even thought I know you're probably sick and tired of it now."

I was a bit, but just having him near me is enough, or so I thought as the feeling of kissing him senseless was very tempting.

"Tell you what, how about you strip so that we're even."

"What!"

"Was? You saw me in all my nude glory. It's only fair that I see you in your nude glory." He then chuckled. "I may even see how much you developed with all that hockey you do."

If my face was hot enough to fry an egg, it would at this point. I gave him a good punch in the gut, said something in French, and locked myself in the room until the next day.

XXXXXXX

It wasn't until a month later that the same thing happened, this time I was butt naked in the bathroom and Gil wasn't home yet. The weather was cool lately and I decided to venture out in my birthday suit to find those damn towels. When I did, I quickly wrapped one around me and brought the few others to bring back to the bathroom when he came up the same moment I stepped onto a large puddle of water on the hardwood floor and slipped backwards.

"Birdie! You okay?" He asked as I sat up from landing on my ass, followed by hitting my head on the said floor.

"Yeah… just startled…" I said when he sighed in relief before both of us realized that the towel around me loosened, revealing my jewels to him as he looked and saw.

"Damn Birdie…"

I blushed as I grabbed the towel and placed it over my exposed half. "W-W-We're e-even now!" I said, not looking at his face. I was embarrassed to show my body to him, especially my dick, which is just as impressive as his five meters, which Al would defiantly keel over and die if he ever found out how much I developed.

"Yeah, we are." He said as he lifted my chin to meet his eyes. "But you know… you shouldn't be embarrassed of your body." He said with that feral grin that sent chills down my spine. "There are a ton of guys that would kill to have what we are blessedly endowed with."

I felt my face heat up once again as he helped me up to my feet and guided me back to the bathroom.

"Now go get dressed before you catch a cold." He said as he gave me a playful smack on my bear rear, which I made a not so manly surprised yelp, causing him to crackle and I slammed the door.

Surprisingly, he's dealing this a hell lot better than I was. Maybe because I'm the virgin and he at least laid a woman, but since then we went back to our normal routine, a few spats here and there, even Ludwig and Feli came to visit and the Italian mentioned that we remind him of a lot of happy and healthy couples he'd seen back in Italy, which made both of us quiet, which of course sparked Ludwig's attention and Gilbert was left with an awkward discussion with his younger brother.

Even his neighbors thought we were a couple by how we act around each other, even though I was definitely in love with him while he has yet let me know how he feels towards me, I have a strange feeling that maybe Feli was right about something, that maybe things like this is what love is about, simply enjoying each other's company and talk through things that maybe wasn't clear to begin with. Maybe I was lusting after Gil all this time but now settled to something more comfortable, mature even with him. And maybe, because I'm still young and in school, is the reason why he hasn't fully decided what to do about this odd relationship. In a way… it was sweet and I liked how this was going, even if it does get frustrating at times.

XXXXXXX

After that realization, life with Gilbert is just… amazing. Sure he still kids around me like he does with Francis and Antonio back when I was little, but it was his way of treating me at the age that I am. But then he becomes sweet that he often tells me never to repeat this verbally to anyone.

"I do have an awesome reputation to keep up." He would often say.

"Why?"

"Because it's so unawesome for me. If you do it it's okay because one look at you and people think you're this sweet, cuddly person. Me, I'm just awesome that most can't handle it."

Being around him hasn't even been uncomfortable either, even if he's wearing only his boxers that looks like the Prussian flag.

"Hey! They were an awesome force to reckon with! So don't laugh!"

"That's okay, I got a couple pairs of the Canadian flag on them."

"Good, something we have in common then."

In short, not everything is awkward anymore between us. In fact I may have fallen in love with him again. Even the little things gave a huge impact.

The way he calls out my name or nick name. The way he runs his hands through my hair when we're watching a movie. The way we talk about anything over pancakes. The way he makes faces when I have a bad day. The way he sneaks up behind me to wake me up, though that usually earns him a bump on the head.

XXXXXXX

After my second year in Germany, Ludwig and Feliciano announced that they were getting married, which was huge news to Gilbert, which he promptly sprayed a mouthful of the finest German beer on Ludwig's face while Mrs. Beilschmidt congratulated the union, knowing it was going to happen before Gilbert.

"Hold up! You're not supposed to marry before your awesome bruder!"

This of course led to an amusing argument, which ended with Mrs. Beilschmidt knocking out Gilbert, which made me learn something. Gilbert's adoptive mother is one tough old bird for her age, then again Ludwig is only a year older than me, so she's still in her prime. But never mess with her is the lesson I learned from that.

"I don't see what's wrong with it." I said as his family and Feli left later and he regain consciousness. "A lot of younger siblings get married before the older sibling does. There's no law against it."

"I know, but I kinda made a bet with myself that I would get hitched before West. I lost."

"To who? The thing about making a bet with yourself means you don't owe anyone."

He looked over at me and smiled. "That's what I like about you, Birdie, seeing the glass half full."

"You see it better than I do most of the time." I said as I'm no longer seen as a guest and we take turns doing some of the house work around his place, which means that I get the dishes while he gets the floors and table.

"Only because you're here."

"Come off it!"

He crackled as the night wore on. "So… Any plans on what you're going to do after college?"

"Well… I got a job offer in Canada that needs a translator in German. I figured that's a good place to start. I'll work in a government building and know the layout of things. Spend at least a year and a half doing that before figuring out what to do from there."

"Damn Birdie, you got your life planned out? Do you and God have some kind of agreement?"

"No, I'm just… lucky?"

"Must because of my awesomeness. It's giving you good luck because we're so tight."

"Could be." I said with a smile because good things do happen when people are happy and positive about their outlook. And I'm lucky to have known Gil this long and still be able to be this close and understanding. This reminds me of the stereotypical married couple after ten years of marriage. Okay, that was a bit too far.

"Yo! Earth to Birdie! Earth to Mattie!" Gilbert said as he grabbed my ass. "Butt smex time."

"Gil!"

"Oh, you came back from planet whatever." He said with that grin that many who don't know him that well would say shit eating.

I was positive that my face rivaled that of the street light as I continued to scrub the dishes. "You done in the dining room I suppose?"

"Yeah. I'm done with that." He said as he leaned up against me.

"What's on your mind?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You never lean on me like a Great Dane unless you have something serious in mind."

"You know me too well."

I smiled and giggled. "Well, I have spent the last two years living with you, though you shouldn't make it rent free."

"My house, my rules and I don't like charging my friends unless they piss me off."

I shook my head. "Still, I'll owe you something after I graduate."

"Do and I'll use some of that to get a ticket to your place and return the rest."

"Oh? And how do you propose you return? Did you buy a return ticket while you were at it?" I said, playing along as I figured it was one of those games where we try to out converse one another. It's quite fun once you know how it works and be creative enough to continue without pause.

"What if I don't want to go back to Germany?"

"Are you saying you want to stay with me in Canada?" I asked, feeling something very off about the whole thing. "Why? I thought you love it here, you said so yourself."

"I do love it here, I can never love my country less. But that doesn't mean I don't love Canada either, since I also lived there for a time."

"I know that, I was there for those wonderful moments of my life that I will never replace." I said as he wrapped an arm around my waist. "Gil?"

"I'm thinking about moving…"

"To Canada?" He nodded. "With me?" Another nod. "Any particular reason?"

He looked at me with those ruby eyes that reminded me of freshly poured red wine as he grabbed my hand and led me away from the sink and onto the chair in the kitchen. "That all depends on you."

"Gil?" I said, unsure what was going on as he kneeled. Wait… He's reaching for something in his pocket… Can't be…

"Matthew Williams…" He started to say as our eyes made contact once more. "I do love you, for years now. But I wanted you to grow a little more and not be in the way of your future you decided on yourself. I know you'll do great in whatever you do from this point and after graduation, but… And you don't have to give me an immediate answer…" He held out a small, dark blue box in his hand and opened to reveal a ring. "Will you marry me?"

I knew he was dead serious about this and my heart seemed to skip a few beats as the answer was clear to me and smiled. "I've loved you for the longest time… Naïve maybe, but true and pure."

He smiled gently as he took the ring out and placed it on my ring finger on my right hand.

"I thought it was the left hand."

"Here it's the right." He said as I giggled.

"I'll be reminded how lucky I am from this day on every time I write something down." I said, as he chuckled as well. "Ah! We have to tell our families about this! Even Dad and Alfred."

"Why do you think I asked to marry you? I can't really do that without their okay."

I blushed as the meaning sunk in. "So… they know…?"

"Your brother wants to kill me, your dad took some time convincing that I wasn't messing around. But in the end I got both their approvals."

"How?"

"With Alfred, not sure how really… But my euros is on the fact that he has a thing with that Japanese guy. As for your dad, he and I talked… Which I will never do again if I want to keep my skin where it is… and he finally said okay."

I blushed as the thought of my dad and Alfred knowing the engagement, which is the right thing to do for him to do, but it was still embarrassing.

"Now I have to tell my family."

"Wait, they don't know?"

"Nope, I saved the best for last." He said with a grin.

I shook my head. "It's a good thing that I'm easily liked by your family, otherwise there will be a problem here."

"There's still going to be drama, especially with Mutti, but other than that, you're right." He said as he kissed me on the lips. The very first actual kiss on the lips he's given me. "But until then, you have school to focus on and I have to find us both an awesome place to live."

"Ludwig would have a heart attack to hear you say that." I said as he laughed and hugged me, which I couldn't help but join in.

* * *

><p>I love fluff. That's all I have, I hoped you enjoyed it everyone.<p> 


End file.
